Stricter meth law will benefit children
A new law which will likely lead to tougher sentences for people who produce meth around children couldn’t have arrived soon enough.
That’s especially true in Warren County where we are unfortunately earning the distinction as the Meth Capital of the World.
It is indeed regrettable a number of our citizens – some of them hard-working folks who haven’t had a history of trouble – are being caught in meth’s clutches. The drug is powerful and highly addictive.
But what’s even more saddening is when parents, so enthralled in their addiction, also expose their children to the dangers of meth. It’s bad enough when a child may see his mother or father use a particular drug, but it’s not tolerable when that child must live in a house where there is poison in the air.
Over the years, the Standard has seen many of its pages filled with meth arrests and has constantly emphasized the dangers of operating a meth lab. The labs produce highly toxic chemicals and the smell clings to everything – furniture, walls, carpet and clothing.
Law enforcement officers estimate meth chemicals are so hazardous, it would only take about five year of operating a meth lab before the toxins proved fatal.
That said, we need to do everything possible to protect children from this potentially deadly situation. And the new state law finally appears to have some teeth where the old law didn’t have much bite at all.
A parent who operates a meth lab in their home – and is convicted of exposing their child or children to meth’s deadly chemicals – can now lose custody of their children for that act.
The punishment is completely appropriate.
What kind of life, and what kind of chance, can a child be expected to have when he or she comes home to a meth lab in the closet or the bathroom? That kind of destructive environment has the potential to do irreparable damage – both physically and mentally. It opens the door to an onslaught of health problem before a child even reaches kindergarten.
Yes, taking away someone’s child is serious business. But so is exposing that child to deadly chemicals. If a person can’t make more intelligent choices than that, and accept the responsibility of being a parent, they should lose such a privilege.
The drug epidemic – and meth in particular – is one of the primary problems facing Warren County. Enacting laws which will punish parents more severely is in the best interest of the child and our community.
It’s our duty as a caring society to try and give every child a fair start in life. That entails providing that child food, clothing and a safe environment. When the place a child calls home is the same place there’s a meth lab, that is not a safe environment.
For parents who don’t have enough sense to keep their children away from meth labs, the state is perfectly within its boundaries to snatch away custody rights.